Google Chromebooks have outsold Macs in a single fiscal quarter for the very first time in the US, according to stats from IDC.

IDC, which shared its data at a Google I/O session (go figure), didn't break out exact Chromebook numbers. But it recently put Apple's Mac shipments for the first quarter of 2016 at around 1.76 million.

"Chrome OS overtook Mac OS in the US in terms of shipments for the first time in 1Q16. Chromebooks are still largely a US K-12 story," Linn Huang, IDC research director for devices and displays, told The Verge.

According to early April data from IDC, Apple's Mac shipments were down a little bit compared to the same time period last year. So were shipments for every other top-five manufacturer, though. And many faced even larger decreases than Apple.

Though Lenovo took top billing for PC shipments for the quarter with just shy of 12.2 million, that figure was down 8.5 percent from the same time period last year. Second-place HP was down almost 11 percent, third-place Dell was down 2 percent (nearly tied with fourth-place Apple and its 2.1 percent decrease), and fifth-place Asus was down 8.3 percent.

"Demand for PCs in the U.S. remains sluggish. However, we should be entering a period of reprieve. Peak corporate and education buying seasons have historically started in the second quarter. With some IT buyers thinking about early Windows 10 transitions and with the potential continued ascent of Chromebooks in U.S. K-12, the PC market should experience a modest rebound in the coming months," Huang said last month.

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To Apple's credit, IDC's comparison isn't exactly the best. First, only Apple makes Macs, but plenty of other manufacturers (like heavyweights Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Asus) make Chromebooks. It's similar to the market share figures for Android versus iOS: There are just a lot more Android devices than iPhones. There's also a pretty big cost differential between a Chromebook and a MacBook.

That said, Google is looking to kick up Chromebook sales a bit, especially since the company just recently announced that Chrome OS devices will soon get Google Play.

"This means you'll be able to download and use Android apps, so you can make a Skype call, work with Office files and be productive offline—or take a break with games like Minecraft, Hearthstone or Clash of Clans. The same apps that run on phones and tablets can now run on Chromebooks without compromising their speed, simplicity or security. This is good for users and great for developers—in addition to phones and tablets, they will be able to easily bring their apps to laptops. And all this is built on top of Chrome OS, so users will continue to have everything they love in their Chromebooks," Google describes.

About the Author

David Murphy got his first real taste of technology journalism when he arrived at PC Magazine as an intern in 2005. A three-month gig turned to six months, six months turned to occasional freelance assignments, and he later rejoined his tech-loving, mostly New York-based friends as one of PCMag.com's news contributors.
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